


·´¯`·.¸ғisher kinɢ¸.·´¯`·

by pelele



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Age Difference, Aged Up, Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, Arguing, Arranged Marriage, Assassination attempts, Attraction, BAMF Zelda, Backstory, Bad Weather, Betrayal, Blackmail, Bonding, Canonical Character Death, Conflict, Conflict of Interests, Courtship, Deception, Demisexuality, Developing Relationship, Drama, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Endgame Slash, Exile, F/F, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, False Accusations, Families of Choice, Family, Family Issues, Fantasy Politics, Femslash, Fictional Religion & Theology, Flashbacks, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gen, Gerudo Culture, Government, Historical References, Humor, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Insecurity, Interspecies Romance, Isolation, Jealousy, Kings & Queens, Letters, Lies, Link Uses Sign Language, Loyalty, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Manipulation, Marriage of Convenience, Mating Rituals, Misunderstandings, Mostly Gen, Negotiations, Nightmares, Off-screen Relationship(s), POV Alternating, Pansexual Character, Partnership, Past Relationship(s), Patriotism, Platonic Cuddling, Political Alliances, Politics, Post-Breath of the Wild, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protectiveness, Rebellion, Regret, Reincarnation, Relationship of Convenience, Religion, Repressed Memories, Romance, Royalty, Secrets, Selectively Mute Link, Sexism, Slow Build, Snark, Spying, Tension, Tragedy, Trust Issues, Unrequited Love, Women In Power, Xenophilia, Xenophobia, or at least a Hylian version of it, references to other games, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-29
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-21 02:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11934537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pelele/pseuds/pelele
Summary: "You will be the land, and the land will be you. As you thrive, the land will blossom. If you fail, the land will perish."Following Ganon's defeat at the hands of the Goddesses' chosen champion, Link has retired to his home in Hateno and Zelda has settled into her duties as ruler of Hyrule. But just because their main foe has been defeated, it doesn't mean they're allowed peace, and both will have to fight for their homes and lives.





	1. ༺△ From the hand of Zelda, Princess of Hyrule △༻

****༺   ༻** **

**o() **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx** ()o**

**o() **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx** ()o**

**  
** **_Tenth of Remori, Hyla Era, year 1378 of our Goddess_**

 

My Dearest Champion,

 

I write to tell you  ~~. . ..... .~~ ~~. . . .~~. . . .... ~~.~~ ..   . ~~.... .  .... ..~~  

~~. . ..... .~~ ~~.~~ My council has suggested that we  ~~.~~ ~~. .~~. . . .... ~~.~~  ..   . ~~.... .  .... ..~~

  
I cannot truly say if anything I've written so far touches your heart, or reaches you at all. For all that we've shared, we have now become strangers to one another in a way that I've never imagined we would become. There isn't one thing I could write that would fix what has happened .. ~~.  ... . .  ....  . .~~  if I could go back in time and stop it ~~. . ..... .~~ ~~. . . .~~. . . .... . .

You seem indiferent to the idea of spending time with me nowadays, but I cannot blame you for doing so. Sometimes, I wish I didn't have to spend time with myself either. I know you read this, brows raised in that way you always do when I surprise or confuse you. It's senseless— how would I do such a thing in the first place? Not that much makes sense these days.

  
For all the chaos we suffered at Ganon's hands, it seems now that things were much clearer back then. There was madness, yes, but there was also a patter to that very madness. A set of rules etched in stone. We followed them now as we followed them before and the world continued living as if nothing changed. When I have time to be alone and let my mind wander, I think of the future. Do you think we will always be condemned to these rolls: chosen hero, fair maiden, soulless villain, mere puppets, forever at the mercy of what or whomever controls our strings  .  .  ...  ~~...~~ ~~..  ......~~.  .. . .  ~~. . . .~~. . . .... . ..... .  ~~. .. .~~ ~~... . . . ..~~

 

 ~~. . . .~~. . . .... ~~. ...~~.. .  ~~. .. .~~ ~~... . . . ..~~ ~~~~  . . .  . .. . .

 

.... . ..... .  ~~. ..~~ ~~.~~ ~~.   ..~~ ~~. . . ..~~

  
I've begun to ramble and get distracted again. Forgive me.

  
In my short time as (a conscious) ruler, I learned that ruling with an iron fist can only get one so far. Only so much fear can be instilled through strong words and threats. Only so much loyalty can be bought with rupees or precious jewels. You may not believe me when I say I don't wish to treat you like this. You are not a piece of land nor an exotic pet, parading you around would do me no good.

  
And so I extend my most sincere feelings and my help, to you. Not just as your ruler, but as your friend. If in your eyes I still hold that title. My arms and the doors to my castle are forever open to you if you decide to return, if only for a day.

 

_**Forever keeping you in my heart,** _

_**Zelda of Hyrule ༻** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea for the months is based on [**this very lovely, fan-made hylian calendar**](https://galassiel.deviantart.com/art/Loz-CC-Hylian-Calendar-Myths-176672642), with its little tweaks here and there for my own desire.
> 
> If Zelda's letter seems a little detached from Link it's because, well... they ARE detached from one another, as her writing implied. As Queen of Hyrule, her writing is also more sofisticated and formal than the one used by non-royalty.
> 
> This clusterfuck of a fic comes from the fact that most fics where Ganon was defeated are all "we saved the day, everything and everyone is totally fine, lol what is angst?". Now don't get me wrong, I'm major fluff trash but I'm upset that no one's decide to spice shit up a little- for shame because some of you children out there write some grade A+ fic.
> 
> Look at me in the eyes: fuck the timeline. Fuck the entire timeline. Fuck the Ocarina of Time and its splitting three timelines, we die like MEN.


	2. fireflies

**_Several months before…_ **

Apples grew best where it was cold in winter, and moderate in the summer, and as such Hateno Village was the perfect place to grow them. At least, that was what the other villagers had told Link, clapping his back as he observed what had once been a no doubt well-loved [apple orchard](http://latourbeille.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Close-up-vines-and-orchard-594KB.jpg). The area had grown wild and untamed, only a few trees remaining and of those few, even less seemed fit to bare fruit.

On his last visit to Kakariko Village no longer than a month before, Impa had offered him what had to be the most perfect fruit ever. The apple was completely spherical, of a red that turned almost purplish underneath a certain light and the inside was vividly white. Link had moaned at the first taste, not too sweet or tart, juices sliding down his neck and collarbone, staining his shirt— he also vividly remembered Paya turning the same furious red as the apple and leaving, a stuttering mess, as he ate. The old woman had laughed, eagerly biting down on her own fruit.

"Hateno apples. Some of the best in all of Hyrule is you ask me. Only the best of the best can grow a good one, and if you're lucky enough to catch them in season, they make for the best honeyed apple. You're quite lucky you live next to that orchard, you're in the epicenter of them."  
Link sucked the juice off his wrist. _Was he good?_ His hand movements where still shaky, but Impa's grace and patience hadn't faltered in a century, and she labored in helping him learn— or was it relearn?— to sign. _The man who owned the orchard. Was he good growing them?_  
"He was. Everyone came to buy them from him, sometimes traveling from other villages and lands just to try a bite. Us here in Kakariko are close enough that we don't have to make that long a trek, but people came from _all_ domains sometimes."

They fell into comfortable silence afterwards. The two continued eating the apples, occasionally looking at the window as the sun began to set, and nodding when Paya slid by to give them each a glass of milk. Link appreciated Impa, how the two would comfortably settle into quietud, understanding each other without words. In the stillness of her home he felt comfortable, like he could curl up and fall asleep on the very floor.

Link laid down his fourth apple, half-eaten, face turned to the [dinflies](https://ak8.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/29747887/thumb/11.jpg)— fiery, multicolored firefly like insects, larger than their cousin, that were slowly beginning to gather outside the window.

 _Did you know him_ , Link signed after a while, with juice-sticky fingers.  
Impa mulled over the question around a mouthful, as if trying to bring back memories with every bite. "Not personally, no. Everyone in the village knew about him: he manned one of the best apple orchards, had a younger brother who ran away to join the King's knights and he never took a wife or anyone for as long as he lived." She finished eating and took a sip of milk. "He was a private man, but one could tell he was kind. Happy. The one regret in his life was that he couldn't get your father to come back, especially when he learned your mother was pregnant."

Not for the first time Link wished he could properly remember them. Did he have his mother's hair, his father's nose? What little there was of them in his mind was scattered bits, and focusing on one memory for too long was like seeing it through a [kaleidoscope](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/T5Ap6rkyBHY/maxresdefault.jpg), their faces like seeing something mirrored in the ocean; just as colorful and the overall effect was disjointed, he couldn't tell where one moment ended and another began. Worse was when his dreams melded with them, and he was left to figure out what was real and what was not. Had his father and mother both been knights of Hyrule, dead when he was still too young and left to be raised by his uncle? Or maybe he'd been raised from childhood next to Zelda, in a heavenly place above the clouds where no bird could ever fly high enough to reach?

More dinflies began to gather by the window, casting a gentle glow on the crystal. Impa remarked the oddity of so many of them, for fireflies were prominent during spring and summer, and they were slowly nearing the winter seasons.

"Maybe they just wanted to get a look at you," she said with a cheeky grin.

Link chortled at the idea, but his vision never strayed too far from their orange light. Then the old woman squared her shoulders and took a deep breath, as if preparing herself.

"I've heard rumors that Zelda has been writing you letters."  
Link's smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared. _Well they're just that. Rumors._ But even if they _happened_ to be true, he'd rather not receive any letter from the princess.  
"I wouldn't put it past you to ignore them if she did." The accusatory tone was obvious, as if Link had indeed torn up the princess's supposed letters. Where was Paya to interrupt when she was needed? "But you know you couldn't do it forever. Eventually she'd come by to check, if only to see that you were alive and ignoring her. There's a difference between retirement and isolation."

Was that splatter on the wall behind Impa, just shy of her ear and distinctly greenish-gray in color, made by ink or grease? Never had a spot seemed _so_ interesting.

 _If Zelda has written letters, then I haven't gotten them._  
"You admit you would throw them away if she did?"  
_You didn't ask me that!_ Link's face was red up to the tips of his ears.  
Imma smiled and took another drink of her glass. "True, but you didn't correct me when I first implied you could do it."

Huffing, Link gazed at the window. It was no use fighting with Impa, who was either right or right. Outside the sea of dinflies had parted, leaving a sole one in their midst. To Link's surprise, its light was blue, rather than the customary fiery-orange.

No, not _just_ its light. All of the dinfly was blue, a glowing halo of its own odd light surrounding it, giving the illusion that it was bigger than the rest of its brethren. It spun around in small, tight circles, when it realized it was being stared at intently. Was it Link's imagination, or did the little insect fly as if beckoning him to come closer?

He stood from the comfortable pile of cushions he'd been lying on and slowly made his way to the window. The other dinflies were flying in near rows behind the blue one in. Blue, as he decided to name it, tapped the window and once it realized it couldn't get inside, flew til it was at eye-level with Link.

The sound of tinkering bells was what caught his attention. He slid the window open to catch more of the sound and watched as Blue flew right next to his ear.

 _"Hey. Hey, listen!"_  
"Are you listening?"

It was by a miracle he didn't crush his fingers when he slammed the window shut. Impa, who'd somehow trekked across the room graceful and silent, and gave Link a heart attack, assessed him before looking outside the window. The dinflies, even Blue, were gone.

"Link?" Impa cupped his face, like she was testing to see if he had a fever.  
_I have to go_. His hands were a blur, but he hoped the message got across. _I had a good time, but it's getting late._  
"You're entirely free to stay, you know." Impa refrained from mentioning that the way to Hateno was rather far by foot, and especially unsafe at night.

Link kept politely but persistently turning down her offers and dashed out of the house before Impa could protest, crashing against Paya on the way and leaving with a hasty apology. Once the door closed behind him, he double over and placed his hands on his knees, gasping for breath, heart doing its best to burrow out of his ribcage. Link shut his eyes as his temples throbbed and his heart pounded in his ears. Beneath the humming and drumming of blood, he heard bells.

The dinfly was back, pirouetting before him, its blue glow brighter up close and straining Link's eyes. It made a satisfied little chirp— he _knew_ he hadn't imagined the noise!— when he looked up and began to fly away, its light scintillating like a beacon.

Link could feel Impa and Paya's eyes on him through the walls. The idea that Blue was calling him to follow was ridiculous, it was an insect after all. And they would get worried if they saw him take another path this late at night.

Bells chimed again, Blue rounding the corner and excitedly spinning, gesturing with its body impatiently.

 _Alright_ , he thought, _maybe following won't be so bad._

The dinfly swooped and ducked among branches and grass but was never too far, blue light always in his peripheral vision and bell chimes near, taking Link around the village until stone turned to grass flattened by carts, which in itself turned to completely unscathed land. Link turned his face skyward and watched the stars blinking as he made his way through the forest. Half of the moon was visible that night, but it was bright enough that he could see without the aid of a lantern, which was perfect seeing as he had none and nothing to make a torch with. It was also a perfectly starry night, he could make out the constellations— even his favorite one, shaped like a [queen sitting on her throne](https://zelda.gamepedia.com/media/zelda.gamepedia.com/e/ec/Cassiopeia.jpg?version=ee7260e9b578ca31d31aac6d3997999c) and believed to be the first princess Zelda, who was ascended to the sky when she woke up from her sleep. Link couldn't remember the stars ever being _so_ bright and beautiful back in the castle.

His fascination with the sky caused him to snag his foot on an upturned root and fall face first, swallowing a mouthful of wet dirt. Link coughed and wiped his mouth when he realized Blue was nowhere to be found.

_Great. Just great!_

With a grumble he stood, dusting his pants. He couldn't be that far away from Hateno, or at least Kakariko, after all Link didn't imagine he had spent so long walking. Had he turned left from the berry bushes or right at the crooked tree?

_"Hey, listen!"_

That voice again. _Who is it?_ It wasn't anyone Link knew, but somehow the voice seemed familiar. He was beginning to get annoyed. It was louder this time, closer, coming from the path leading deep into the forest, where the dinfly flew, its blue light illuminating a small part of the pathway.

Out of habit, Link's hand itched for a weapon. He suppressed the urge and clenched his hand into a fist. The small voice continued whispering out for him to listen.

_It's dangerous to go alone, especially at night, I'm unarmed and it's pitch black. Who knows what's in there?_

Turning on his heel, Link began to make his way back. _What was I thinking, following animals and weird voices into the forest?_ He'd had enough of that for a lifetime 

This time Blue didn't fly and stop him, which surprised Link. He'd already gotten used to the little thing's attempts. Curious, he looked over his shoulder one last time.

The blue dinfly, and with it the path to the forest, had completely disappeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The non-canonical manga A Link to The Past states that Link was raised by an unnamed uncle who [**manned an orchard**](http://www.normaeditorial.com/interiores/012370004Zelda-4_ALinktothePast_1.jpg) (page is in Spanish). He and Link's parents were Knights of Hyrule, and he raised Link after they died.
> 
> Link refers to his uncle as "the man" rather than "my uncle" because he can't remember him. The same way he can't really remember his parents.
> 
> Dinflies are named after the goddess Din. Y'all gonna have to hold me back for these punny names.
> 
> And yes, Blue is referencing our dearly beloved and annoyingly voice Navi!


End file.
